whoops-a-daisy

whoops-a-daisy! the tooth fairy got busy last night and did not show up to get luke's 3rd tooth he lost. that poor fairy must be overworked and underpaid these days. i am pretty sure she will be showing up tonight--maybe with a note?

MUST try

Olive Garden Chicken Marsala Recipe

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless

1/2 cup flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dried oregano to taste
4 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine

Procedures
POUND chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
COMBINE flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess.
HEAT oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly browned. Turn breasts over to cook other side, then add mushrooms to skillet. Cook breasts about 2 more minutes, until both sides are lightly browned. Continue to stir mushrooms. Add Marsala wine around chicken pieces.
COVER and simmer for about 15 minutes.
TRANSFER to serving plate.

first of the season

tonight we had our first bonfire of the season--of course with the neighbors :) it was a gorgeous 70 degree day! how blessed are we!

thankful thursday

with all the crap that has happened in the past two weeks--bombings in boston, fire and explosion at a fertilizer plant in texas, flooding in grand rapids, changes in law that may or may not support immigration, etc etc etc--today i am just thankful that i have a roof over my head, a family to love and who loves me back 100%, and food to eat.

just thankful on this thankful thursday.

spring

spring is trying to spring :)

how can you help in your neighborhood?

breaking in

some call it breaking in......... we call it just going to see uncle tom

another tooth gone!

luke lost his second tooth over the weekend..... it was wiggly and i gave it a BIG tug. he winced..... and then it fell out :) it is a great thing that the fairy still come's to grammy's house because that is where we were! she brought 2 1/2 dollars and a gold dollar.

a glimpse

still winter in cadillac.........

hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog!

our {almost} 6 year old ate a foot long hot dog over the weekend at da dawg house--i am not talking a teeny skinny foot long but a  HUGE wompin' 1/2 to 3/4 pound FOOT LONG HOW DOG! serious dog!!!!  josh ordered one as a coney dog and was teasing luke to eat one....so he ordered it. his eyes were HUGE when it came!

 

they howl when a "dauschand" comes...... and there was no skimpin' on the howling either! 

he ate it quarter by quarter....

 until 

it was GONE

 

the waitress asked luke who helped him eat it......... NO ONE! she was so impressed she brought him (and jack) a free cookie. which he then ate..... crazy kid! 

the owner was so impressed he suggested the waitress give luke a free hat! 

here's the hot diggity dog champ!

potatoes to try

BAKED POTATO SLICES

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Brush both side of potato slices with butter; place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated 400 degrees oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides, turning once.
When potatoes are ready, top with bacon, cheese, and green onion; continue baking until the cheese has melted!

wordless wednesday: created by Luke with a tiny bit of help from mom for the top

mancinos

I cannot make this stuff up.......
Me, "We are going to Mancino's for dinner!"
Luke, "Where is that at?"
Me, "Downtown Luke"
Jack, "Yeah Luke it is not by the other Mancino's!"
Me, "What???"
Jack, "You know..... where people spend all their money!"
Me, "MANCINO'S not casinos Jack.... :)"

sunday night

oh yippee! daddy's hockey game tonight was at 5 so the three of us could go watch him :) :) :) not often that happens!

candles

a few more.....

a few more things we did while on break:
**home depot saturday morning fun
**rode the go kart
**sam and chloe's family birthday fun
**tye dyed shirts (pictures to come)
** created candles (directions in previous post)
**rode bike....and bike....and more bike
**did the "iron bead thingies"
**spent time with aunt lj and uncle j--saw their new addition and lunch at mad dogz

 **relaxed
**watched heat (me and josh)
**read three books (me--unbecoming of mara dyer, evolution of mara dyer and 3rd hunger games book)
**shopped at the mall
**attempted to go to titantic exhibit
**spent time as a family
**created collages on mom's phone

**got flooring

all in a look: mr.poetry

candles!!

The directions below are from A Girl in Paradise Blog. They are her creations--not mine :) BUT we did follow them and make some pretty cool candles!!!!

Making personalized candles is easier than you think.  Today with some help from the kids we made some candles to give to my parents on Valentine's Day. 



You will need some regular paper, tissue paper, tape, sharpies or markers, a candle, wax paper, and a heat gun. 

First, I taped a piece of tissue paper, about the size of my candle, to a piece of copy paper.  Markers will bleed through the tissue paper pretty easily so you will need something to protect your table, and it was easier for the kids to draw on the tissue paper when taped to the "paper".

When your little artist is done, remove the tissue paper from the copy paper.  Cut out your design, and place it on to your candle.  It is important to cut away as much of the excess tissue paper as you can.

Next, you are going to take a piece of wax paper that is larger than your candle.  Pull it tight around your candle, and use your heat gun to melt your design into the candle.  Moving the heat gun in a back and forth motion for about 30-40 seconds.  Be careful of your fingers, the heat gun will be hot. 

Once you have heated the entire design gently peel back your wax paper and make sure the entire design is adhered to the candle.  If not just repeat with the wax paper and heat gun.

A very cute gift for the Grandparents.  Don't you think?

the twins turn 12

sam and chloe turned 12!! :) just a few snippets!

home depot fun

Good Info

snippets

we {jack, luke and i} took a bike ride today--it was a lot of first for luke :) first time he used his camel back (me too for that sake), first time he wrote a 2 wheeler for more than a mile or two, and first time he rode 6 miles!!!!! way to go luke!!!!

luke talked the ENTIRE 6 miles! snippets of our conversation today:
**i am a safetey man mom--you should not ride on the edge by the river
**double check your brakes mom, i'm the safety man
**i'm keeping up with jack!!!
**who knew we'd get ice cream AND ride our bikes
**look at me go mom!


what a delightful afternoon creating memories :)

break thus far

**sleeping in
**pnuemonia for luke, and a double ear infection
**ear infection for jack
**lots of reading!! (for ALL four of us)
**floor bought AND delivered!!
**fred meijer gardens
**lovely easter dinner
**feeding cows with nephew o
**bowling!
**lunch out with boys
**2nd sleep study
**lots of game time
**lots of movies
**lots of wii :)

thankful thursday

our plans did not work out  to go see the titantic exhibit (HUGE wait........hours) but today i am thankful for a carousal to perk up luke :)

ooooh a new one to try!!!!

Baked Crab Rangoon

1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small green onion
4 oz imitation crab
3 oz cream cheese
14 wonton wrappers

Cut up the crab and mix it in with garlic salt, worcestershire sauce, green onion and cream cheese (i would microwave the cream cheese for about 40 seconds to soften)
Spoon into wontons.
Bake at 425 °F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown

pneumonia....again

oh lukers. you poor kiddo. once again you have pnuemonia....and a double ear infection. asthma????

DOMA, faith, marriage and procreation

few. from the title you might sense that i am a bit riled up.

let me preface by saying that i am a born again Catholic Christian but a very liberal one. 

my definitions:
DOMA: defense of marriage act--being argued in the supreme court right now--so all people who choose to marry can have marital federal "protections/rights" if they marry in a state where it is legal--man/woman, man/man, woman/woman.

faith: believing in a greater being and loving others for who they are

marriage: being legally bound to another human. i believe that love needs to be the key ingredient but lots of people are married and not in love.

procreation: act of creating a child--in some way

sigh. i am not even sure where to start. i believe that love is love. there is no one person who can say who you can or cannot marry. i don't care what gender you are--find someone you love and stick with that person. procreation does not have to be the reason to marry--many marry later in life, or cannot have children or simply choose not to have children. or, as in my case, choose to have 2 kids and then not have any more.

doma needs to be opened up. it is discrimination. in 40 years, will people look back and shake their heads as we do now when we see how jim crowe laws treated black people????? 

everyone has a right to their own faith. i can't honestly believe that my God would turn his back on someone because he or she is gay. i am not a master of the Bible but again i cannot believe that the Bible states SUPER CLEARLY that gay people are sinning. if it does, then i'll be damned because there are a lot of things in the Bible that i have not followed or hell, lots of folk don't follow.

i am in love. we have a wonderful marriage and life in bed is pretty darn good. shouldn't all have that option?

meals

i am on spring break! :) which means friday and saturday i did not cook :)

sunday: easter at farm (MMMMMMMMMMMMMM)

monday: leftovers from easter and broccoli salad (new recipe for me--see below)

tuesday: tacos, cilantro lime rice, black beans

wednesday: ham, baked potatoes, green beans

thursday: burgers, asparagus, french fries or roasted potatoes


more to come :) 

broccoli salad:

3-4 cups brocoli (i cut mine smallish)

6 slices of cooked bacon (or 12.......)

1/4 cup sunflower (no measuring)

small can pineapple tidbits (in fresh juice)

dressing:  1 cup mayo, some sugar, some vinegar (i used red wine)

That's it.  I mixed that up about 5 minutes before we ate.

totally workout tuesday?

got in a three mile run....... and then got in a 2nd work out....

77 boxes of Pergo Max...... 18 steps each way..... 15 lbs per box (hubby carried some but has a pulled back muscle).... means I carried at least 700 lbs, and walked 1656 steps!!!

monday of break: bowling

 

thunder, lukachu and queen 

{all named by the boys--not me!} 

slept in, played during the early morning, watched kid shows, moved downstairs "stuff", lunch, bowling, meijer, played, dinner while watching wreck it ralph and then puzzles. luke has a cough i am watching but all in all a good day :) 

clearance

jack, "how do you keep mom out of clearance at meijer?"
luke, "keep her eyes closed!"

oh they know me too well........ :D